How to get Hydrapple in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: The Indigo Disk

The rumors and jokes were true. Applin’s latest evolution Dipplin has a second form in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: The Indigo Disk, Hydrapple, and it’s difficult to obtain if you don’t know exactly what you are doing. 

Dipplin was a simple evolution in The Teal Mask, since all you needed was a readily available item as soon as you booted the DLC up. But Hydrapple uses a completely different evolution method that involves you having to take on the Blueberry Academy Elite Four. 

How to evolve Dipplin into Hydrapple in Pokémon SV: The Indigo Disk

Once you start making progress through The Indigo Disk’s story and have a Dipplin ready to evolve, you need to challenge Drayton, the Dragon-type member of the Blueberry Elite Four, to a battle in the Polar Biome. He’s no pushover, but once you complete his trial and defeat Drayton in battle, he will award you with a copy of TM266 Dragon Cheer.

This Dragon Cheer TM is key to evolving Dipplin and the only way to obtain the move naturally in-game, as of writing. Once you have the TM, teach Dragon Cheer to your Dipplin and then level it up. This will cause your Dipplin to immediately evolve into Hydrapple, which should also give you access to its new signature move, Fickle Beam, which occasionally lets all of Hydrapple’s heads attack at once to double the attack’s power. 

Hydrapple isn’t the only powerful new Dragon-type available in The Indigo Disk either, as Duraludon also has a new evolution you can obtain, Archaludon.

How to beat Drayton in The Indigo Disk

Before you can get your hands on your free copy of Dragon Cheer and evolve your Dipplin into Hydrapple, you need to defeat Drayton in battle. As a Dragon-type trainer, Drayton will bring the following Pokémon to the fight:

• Flygon (Dragon/Ground)
• Dragonite (Dragon/Flying)
• Haxorus (Dragon)
• Sceptile (Grass)
• Kingdra (Water/Dragon)
• Archaludon (Steel/Dragon)

We recommend bringing a couple of Fairy or Ice-types—like Alolan Ninetails, Flutter Mane, Whimsicott, or Primarina—to this fight to make the most of the type advantage. Since it’s a double battle, like most fights in this DLC, you might also want to consider having appropriate spread moves like Icy Wind or Disarming Voice to double up on the damage.